I am going to be designing some pieces that I am looking at having copyrighted when finished. Is that ok to do if I use fonts from this site in my designs? Thanks!

If your font is bitmapped, you have no recourse but mechanical protection (encryption). If your font is in an outline format, you may attempt to register it for copyright. If it is simply an automatically generated reproduction of a typeface design, however, you may not be successful. You may also, if you are well enough endowed with money and perseverance, apply for a design patent, which provides much greater protection for a much shorter period of time. In some countries (e.g. Canada), copyright laws protect the "moral rights" of authors of computer programs from unwanted alteration to their work. This is not true of the U.S.

http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~luc/legal.html

Thank you so much for the links and information! I have saved these links so I can really read into them tonight. Basically, I am going to be designing retail products for re-sale using some of these fonts in my designs. In the long run, of course I want to have my design work protected but want to make sure I am legally allowed to do so using the fonts from thise site or any other site.

Based on you said about converting the text to outline, if I were to convert these fonts to outline, might I be alright to have the designs copyrighted? Or should I contact the author of the fonts I use and get a written statement of a license from them?

Thanks so much!!

Contacting the authors of the fonts you like is ALWAYS a good idea!
In general I think you can use the fonts for your design, but I'm not sure about the copyright issues with your designs (as the design is yours, but the font inside the design is not yours)..

Fonts from this website are not all free for use. Check the page of the font & the readme file.

Also in The USA any original work, be it written, painted, photographed, drawn or whatever other form of design, using whatever means, has automatic copyright protection. Yes, it took a while, but also the USA signed the Convention of Bern. Problem with copyright is, it is sometimes difficult/costly to enforce. Reason why large companies choose for registerd trademark. But that is also costly. Especially worldwide. No easy solution jewelsmac6, alas.

Yes, as I am finding out, there isn't an easy solution! I have emailed one of the font author's that I like very much and am waiting to see what they say and how this will pan out. I guess, unless the readme files included with the font say it is free to use for commercial work, I need to get permission directly from the author. I am also looking around to buy a font pack that would include the commercial license and allow me to trademark or copyright my designs in the future. Any ideas there, where I can get a wide variety of fonts for a decent price that include a legitimate license for me to trademark/copyright later on? Thank you all for you responses!!

Depends on what type of fonts you are looking for ...

Sorry, I should have included that in info in my post. I am looking for a wide variety of fonts. So maybe an ecelctic pack, or a few separate packs. I am after some handwritten, grunge, distorted styles, but also nice serif, sans serif and calligraphic styles. I know that is all over the board, which is the problem I am facing - to find a wide variety pack, or a few individual packs. And of course, with the license for commercial use and allow me to copyright/trademark my work after the designs are complete.

I was looking at the MacWare packs. They seem affordable and include over 1000 fonts, but are only for MACs (I need the fonts for a PC). Any advice or feedback about these MacWare packs? Or other ideas of where I should be looking for a pack like these for a PC platform? Many thanks!!

For the 'conventional' fonts try to lay your hands on an old version of Corel Draw. Try to find the version 4 CDs which came with a lot of lisenced commercial fonts. Most Bitstream variations. For handwriting find the WSI handwriting collection. WSI is defunct since a long time so you will be pretty safe with those. You may also want to contact Kenvin and Amanda at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/contact.html
On the grunge/distorted ones don't expect any help from me. I classify them as trash (sorry folks around) being badly made and hardly - if at all - usable for anything commercial that pretends to add value.